Tools - All Business Needs a Platform
14:32
Quick, in 30 sec, define how you carry out your business?
If you do not mention "Methodology" or "Management System", then how are you instilling confidence? How can I truly trust that you can "do what you said you would do!"
If you do not mention "Methodology" or "Management System", then how are you instilling confidence? How can I truly trust that you can "do what you said you would do!"
It is amazing how we still try to instill confidence by saying: Sure.... I have done it 100 times so this will be no different - it is all about my experience.
Now granted, that is very important, but the world is wayyyy to dynamic and year over year, using an Analogy of the past is fine for budgetary purposes, but it will not give enough accuracy anymore for planning and delivery of the solution. Also, if you don't have a best practice framework, what if you have been doing it inefficiently for the past 10 years, and just getting by, or riding a bubble?
How well can your business grow without you, how well can it operate when you go on a 4 week vacation?
Now granted, that is very important, but the world is wayyyy to dynamic and year over year, using an Analogy of the past is fine for budgetary purposes, but it will not give enough accuracy anymore for planning and delivery of the solution. Also, if you don't have a best practice framework, what if you have been doing it inefficiently for the past 10 years, and just getting by, or riding a bubble?
How well can your business grow without you, how well can it operate when you go on a 4 week vacation?
The video below emphasizes the importance of a
common platform from which all your business work (both project, operational
and strategy) stems from in order to deliver successful solutions.
The video also lists a list of the major aspects of a business framework/methodology that you should be very comfortable talking about at any time, between customers, employees, investors, alliances, regulators, associations, academics, etc.
The video also lists a list of the major aspects of a business framework/methodology that you should be very comfortable talking about at any time, between customers, employees, investors, alliances, regulators, associations, academics, etc.
Note: if link does not work, go direct to blog to view www.jasontratch.com
How fast can you gather and present well organized "Formal Documentation" of the guidelines, processes, tools, templates, techniques and overall framework/methodology that is followed (collectively and collaboratively by the business as a whole). The scary thing is when this documentation is stored in the brains of a select few.
This is now becoming very common in Saskatchewan, every major Association has a Standardized Course they teach to the Public and their Memberships. The really cool thing is that each Association (Construction, Manufacturing, Innovation, Agriculture, Mining, etc.) are all using the same common platform methodology - which is the Project Management Institute and it's Manual called the PMBOK (www.pmi.org).
A simple article helps explain the importance of a methodology and also I really liked their last bullet, how they emphasize to align your methodology with:
1) Strategy,
2) Software,
3) Community Learning
PS: the only other two I would add to this list is...
4) Operational work,
5) Project work)
The link to the full article is below....
sixdisciplines
1) Strategy,
2) Software,
3) Community Learning
PS: the only other two I would add to this list is...
4) Operational work,
5) Project work)
The link to the full article is below....
sixdisciplines
Tools - Diffuse conflict and emotion before they begin
09:58
The term "Why" is so important within project and business planning. It also is key to help manage potential conflict and prevent mis-understanding and mis-communication.
Do not get sucked into the cyclone of crisis, that is common enough in the work world and we all have responsibility to diffuse it before it begins. Is always a two way street between two people that communicate..... Sender - Receiver.
A key tool is to formalize these questions so they become habit. Utilize them when someone is in a high state of stress, anxiety, anger or frustration, or are quickly jumping to things during times of diress or conflict or uncertainty.
STEPS:
Start out by stating the term in neutral as possible voice, the word: " Interesting"
Then pause.... maybe a few silent nods of your head, with a neutral look on your face..... this presents a non-judgmental message which should have low risk for the other person to go into fear, hurt, defensive or attack mode.
Then ask two types of questions, based on the situation:
1 - Tell me more
2 - Why did you
a) say that
b) do that
c) ask me this
The more I look at this tool, the more I also see that I should not only use it at work, but also in personal life with partner, friends, family! Is a great way to live and a great foundation tool!
Tools - 7 Habits of Success - start with # 1 = Be Proactive
07:05
Another new year, what will be different?
Take on the new year, spend 6 min on this Stephen Covey video!
7 Habits of Highly Successful People (beautifully animated)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlTxC4QG8g
Take on the new year, spend 6 min on this Stephen Covey video!
7 Habits of Highly Successful People (beautifully animated)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlTxC4QG8g
1 = Be proactive
2 = Begin
with the end in mind
3 = Put
first things first
4 = Think
win – win
5 = Seek
first to understand, then to be understood
6 =
Synergize
7 = Sharpen
the saw
To be successful at project management or business, you must integrate your personal life habits and systems with your work habits and systems. Have a culture of success, that means you live and breathe it, your family does it, your friends do it, like grows with like!
Thank you to you-tube, ability to access fast, free, rich media to help learn AND retain!
Tools - Best Practices for Report Cover / Title pages
12:03
A strong cover page sets the stage! Often, we leave it plain, cold & too formal. In a multimedia rich world we can avoid boredom and get excited about the content (cover page introduces you to this).
Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to have a first opinion within 30 seconds of seeing things and this will lead to a judgement or opinion that they form within their mind. So do not underestimate the value of spending extra time on that cover page.
The next part is for you to either reverse that judgement (if it is a bad one) or to enhance, foster and cement it (if it is a good one).
Thus, ensure you spend some time on that cover page and do not have a "one template fits all" attitude.
At a minimum, create a theme for your cover page based on the:
A sample cover page could include:
Other key things or guidelines include:
The items below depend on the size of the document (for small files you may incorporate them directly on the cover page or if a large document these types of things should be on the second page):
A final note, do not be afraid to have your cover page in a different font then the rest of the body. This also shows a bit of flair and can gain more attention.
A few links below touch on this topic, but surprisingly not a lot out there...
Title page creation in MS Word (visual)
Do's and Don'ts
Sample cover pages
Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to have a first opinion within 30 seconds of seeing things and this will lead to a judgement or opinion that they form within their mind. So do not underestimate the value of spending extra time on that cover page.
The next part is for you to either reverse that judgement (if it is a bad one) or to enhance, foster and cement it (if it is a good one).
Thus, ensure you spend some time on that cover page and do not have a "one template fits all" attitude.
At a minimum, create a theme for your cover page based on the:
- receiver,
- sender,
- content,
- presenting technology (if applicable),
- and constraints (e.g. time, money and quality).
A sample cover page could include:
- Header/Footer: this is variable, examples of what to include are: Title, website, sending company name, receiving company name, * Confidential * wording,
- Content: be short, specific, this is your landing page for the people you are trying to present something to, align the body of the document to the type of cover page you need to have
- Confidential or Proprietary Notice: depending on how confidential or how much IP is involved, have a simple one liner or include a legal statement
- Logos (do not need to be drawing attention, subtle logo in the right space is key (header/footer or embedded somewhere on the page)
- Diagrams - this is low hanging fruit, people are visual and seldom do I see an image, yet it is very easy to do, it can be a descriptive image that related to the content, or it can simply be a background image (eg. drops of water if the content is water management).
Other key things or guidelines include:
- Title
- Subject
- For (company and if possible a name)
- From
- Date
- Slogan (if applicable)
The items below depend on the size of the document (for small files you may incorporate them directly on the cover page or if a large document these types of things should be on the second page):
- Version Control
- Contact Information (address, tel, email)
- Controlling Author
- TM or copy right statements
A final note, do not be afraid to have your cover page in a different font then the rest of the body. This also shows a bit of flair and can gain more attention.
A few links below touch on this topic, but surprisingly not a lot out there...
Title page creation in MS Word (visual)
Do's and Don'ts
Sample cover pages
PMTip - Does a Project Plan bring value?
07:22
Immediately, the day you start to execute the plan, you will find that your plan has flaws. This is because your plan has become out-dated and incorrect as soon as it is put into play.
TRUTH: In a living interactive world full of human interaction - everything is changing, with and sometimes without logic and no person has the ability to 100% totally predict the future - and this is a constant we live with and try to get things done as best as we can.
QUESTION:
Thus one should expect things to not go exactly to the plan. But to continue to identify the multiple possible futures and multiple possible paths available to take us into the best future that we can estimate with the current information at hand.
One must find the path that best balances the objectives and available resources (e.g. people, time, money, equipment, materials, etc) and remember that each path will have a fork, and decisions must be made which fork in the road is to be taken.
This again is why it is so key to spend time up front, in early stages to really have the buy-in and support of the objectives and value that the project must produce.
4 Techniques to help manage this include:
1) Include in your project lifecycle more phases/stages that occur early on (few people with few resources spent). If following the PMI methodology, these would occur before "Initiation". In mature organizations it is common to have a:
- Concept Stage: identify the idea, identify value, talk through it and don't try to complicate or over analyze,
then also include a
- Proposal Stage: talk about feasibility at a high level, is this real, do you think we could achieve it, this is where the amount of resources spent to conduct the feasibility plan or even pilot, will be highly based on the risk threshold of the organization
Then after those two stages are complete (ensure you have gates and deliverables to close the gate), the project can move into the standard PMI lifecycle stages/phases which include:
2) Clearly know AND understand the different levels of objectives, from top executive sponsor role to the front line stakeholder and customer. Also it is key that the objectives have a simple definition of the associated value that will be produced.
3) When we face the unknowns we always have constraints (we will be limited in resources), thus decisions will have to involve "Trade-offs" and must always go back to the objectives. Ensure the project does not stray too far into a future path that is not recognizable from when the project was started.
4) As soon as the idea is hatched, bring in a PM to start the coordination of flowing through the project in a structured manner. Today we are so inter-connected, that there will be risks that simply cannot be foreseen. A project manager too often is hired and focused on managing the budget, schedule, scope and quality. But to truly get maximum value from a PM, enable them to focus on Integration and to coordinate the inter-connected variables that exist within the project - between all the diverse stakeholders. And it is ever so key to do this right from the start.
PS: just a quick reminder, don't think it is okay to throw the plan out the window, or minimize the importance of the plan. We always must plan, do and circle back with a continuous check. Follow as close as possible to the plan, and take corrective actions as needed. AND ensure things get recorded (what did not go according to plan) and plan the time for proper lessons learned after the objectives are achieved.
While in the midst of execution, emphasize working to achieve objectives, we need to change how we think about planning. There could be less emphasis about deliverables, since much of the scope will lack clarity and thus you are destined to not go according to the plan. But ensure if you have a collaborative, creative team, then know your journey and you will achieve your objectives (thinking about the solution, not the parts).
TRUTH: In a living interactive world full of human interaction - everything is changing, with and sometimes without logic and no person has the ability to 100% totally predict the future - and this is a constant we live with and try to get things done as best as we can.
TRUTH: We can sometimes be arrogant with our plan and think it is SO good that there will be a "Single Optimal Future" that must be achieved.
TRUTH: In the real world of a project, there will be "Multiple Possible Futures" and you will never know all the influencers, so you must be managing your project from start to finish and try to be a close as possible to your original plan.
TRUTH: In the real world of a project, there will be "Multiple Possible Futures" and you will never know all the influencers, so you must be managing your project from start to finish and try to be a close as possible to your original plan.
QUESTION:
So why do we get so stressed when things do no go according to plan? Why do we Curse the Plan?
ANSWER: ha, ha, there is no single answer, and never will be, this is so complex and is essentially part of a journey - not a race!
Continue to chip away and "Stay the Course". We must be able to manage our stress when we have to conduct "Decision making with levels of uncertainty".
ANSWER: ha, ha, there is no single answer, and never will be, this is so complex and is essentially part of a journey - not a race!
Continue to chip away and "Stay the Course". We must be able to manage our stress when we have to conduct "Decision making with levels of uncertainty".
The higher level of project risk that exists
(e.g. complexity and uniqueness), the higher the level of unknowns.
Thus one should expect things to not go exactly to the plan. But to continue to identify the multiple possible futures and multiple possible paths available to take us into the best future that we can estimate with the current information at hand.
One must find the path that best balances the objectives and available resources (e.g. people, time, money, equipment, materials, etc) and remember that each path will have a fork, and decisions must be made which fork in the road is to be taken.
This again is why it is so key to spend time up front, in early stages to really have the buy-in and support of the objectives and value that the project must produce.
4 Techniques to help manage this include:
1) Include in your project lifecycle more phases/stages that occur early on (few people with few resources spent). If following the PMI methodology, these would occur before "Initiation". In mature organizations it is common to have a:
- Concept Stage: identify the idea, identify value, talk through it and don't try to complicate or over analyze,
then also include a
- Proposal Stage: talk about feasibility at a high level, is this real, do you think we could achieve it, this is where the amount of resources spent to conduct the feasibility plan or even pilot, will be highly based on the risk threshold of the organization
Then after those two stages are complete (ensure you have gates and deliverables to close the gate), the project can move into the standard PMI lifecycle stages/phases which include:
- Initiating
- Planning,
- Executing,
- Monitoring and Control,
- Closing
2) Clearly know AND understand the different levels of objectives, from top executive sponsor role to the front line stakeholder and customer. Also it is key that the objectives have a simple definition of the associated value that will be produced.
3) When we face the unknowns we always have constraints (we will be limited in resources), thus decisions will have to involve "Trade-offs" and must always go back to the objectives. Ensure the project does not stray too far into a future path that is not recognizable from when the project was started.
4) As soon as the idea is hatched, bring in a PM to start the coordination of flowing through the project in a structured manner. Today we are so inter-connected, that there will be risks that simply cannot be foreseen. A project manager too often is hired and focused on managing the budget, schedule, scope and quality. But to truly get maximum value from a PM, enable them to focus on Integration and to coordinate the inter-connected variables that exist within the project - between all the diverse stakeholders. And it is ever so key to do this right from the start.
PS: just a quick reminder, don't think it is okay to throw the plan out the window, or minimize the importance of the plan. We always must plan, do and circle back with a continuous check. Follow as close as possible to the plan, and take corrective actions as needed. AND ensure things get recorded (what did not go according to plan) and plan the time for proper lessons learned after the objectives are achieved.
While in the midst of execution, emphasize working to achieve objectives, we need to change how we think about planning. There could be less emphasis about deliverables, since much of the scope will lack clarity and thus you are destined to not go according to the plan. But ensure if you have a collaborative, creative team, then know your journey and you will achieve your objectives (thinking about the solution, not the parts).
Thoughts - Think about your decisions, but not too long!
08:35
Don't get caught-up in over-analysis - Yes easier said than done!
Depend on your team to address the risks as they arise. But continue to move forward and respect innovative discussions - those are the sources of the game changers.
Good reminder below....
We all sometimes sit on the fence tooooo long before we make a decision.
This does not mean to rush into things..... you need to have information at hand before you make a decision. Validate the credibility of the information and understand the capability of the people that gave you the information. Then check the info as soon as you act and adjust accordingly, refer to a popular lifecycle from Deming if needed:
Plan - Do - Check - Act
Build the trust, bring your team into the justifications and logic around the decision since they will also need to be there to handle the risks and unknowns - that surely will be present once you start to act on the decisions.
Remember, businesses and technologies are changing every day/week/month and the globe is so interconnected that you can be impacted. If you are afraid to act, firm up your risk management and change control process, often failure to act costs more in lost opportunities and integration/procurement costs (others are waiting and being impacted) - so take that into consideration.
Buckle up - the world will only get more interconnected. Be timely in your decisions.
Depend on your team to address the risks as they arise. But continue to move forward and respect innovative discussions - those are the sources of the game changers.
Good reminder below....
We all sometimes sit on the fence tooooo long before we make a decision.
This does not mean to rush into things..... you need to have information at hand before you make a decision. Validate the credibility of the information and understand the capability of the people that gave you the information. Then check the info as soon as you act and adjust accordingly, refer to a popular lifecycle from Deming if needed:
Plan - Do - Check - Act
Build the trust, bring your team into the justifications and logic around the decision since they will also need to be there to handle the risks and unknowns - that surely will be present once you start to act on the decisions.
Remember, businesses and technologies are changing every day/week/month and the globe is so interconnected that you can be impacted. If you are afraid to act, firm up your risk management and change control process, often failure to act costs more in lost opportunities and integration/procurement costs (others are waiting and being impacted) - so take that into consideration.
Buckle up - the world will only get more interconnected. Be timely in your decisions.
Tools - Checklist for Project Kick off - focus on non PM roles
07:59
You are kicking off a project, majority of people
on your team are not project managers, so ensure everyone is on the
same page to get the work done. We all
need to understand what is a project framework – essentially – the platform
from which we all stand upon and follow and work together to achieve objectives and deliverables.
Below is a basic checklist to
help stakeholders not experienced in PM. It helps identify areas that may need additional
support to get up to speed and enhance their PM
understanding - so we all are on the same page :-)
- Do you understand how to link the project with business value-add
- Is it clear to separate between the project vs operations vs strategy
- Do you understand how the project fits into the “real work world” once it is done
- Do you understand the support systems to help manage priorities, accountabilities, risk, change & stress
- Is it clear how the team and company will initiate the project in a formalized, structured format that also follows globally accepted best practices
- Does everyone understand the project lifecycle and how you will flow through the project start to end (initiate, plan, execute, monitor, control and close a project
- Is the project plan broken down into clear knowledge areas (Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, HR, Communication, Risks, Integration, Procurement, Stakeholders, Safety, Claims, Environment, Financials, Records, Relations)
- Is it clear who the client is and how to manage that relationship
- Do you understand how to clarify priorities and then when there is conflict how to manage the trade-off decisions
- Do you have a system to help manage influencers (risks, assumptions, constraints, dependencies)
- Is there a system to help identify future solutions that are aligned with the business to further maximize value (future strategies, lessons learned)
- Is there a understanding of the learnings you will get from this project and how it will also align with your career path
- Is it easy, clear and prepared so you can leverage templates for the project
- Is it easy, clear and structured so you can understand how the work will follow/fit within a management system (overall way that the project will be started, delivered and ended)
- Do you know of other systems, templates, methodologies that you can also bring to the table to help this project have a higher probability of success (we are all part of the success factor and each project is unique)
Often we spend so much time training our PMs and
ensuring they have all the tools, but don’t forget the other 99% of the team that
also needs to understand project frameworks and methodologies. The trick is to
find the balance as to what level of detail do they need to know. Today we have flatter organizations and also stakeholders that want to be more empowered and take a more active role. Checklists help narrow down the areas that can be addressed or enhanced asap.
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